Innovative up and running

Crawford said Innovative accounts for about 25 percent of the U.S. market when it comes to deicers. For the 24-year-old company, selling municipalities on new technology can be the toughest part of the business.

"We're trying to lead a very conservative market into a new age," said Crawford. "It's strictly about usage....if we can help the municipality to lower their usage of sand and usage of salt, environmentally that's going to have a long-term positive impact."

Innovative supplies a number of area municipalities, including the City of Albany, a 10-year customer, the state Department of Transportation and the Thruway Authority. Crawford said the company is in talks with the Town of Bethlehem about adopting their products.""